Browne: Timing surrounding info given to Auditor General notable, but not real issue

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Browne: Timing surrounding info given to Auditor General notable, but not real issue

Speaking on the issue this morning Former Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne said that the circumstances surrounding when the information on the correction would have been received is notable.

He said the January 31 deadline for the Auditor General to receive the information would have been constitutionally set in stone.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert explained last evening that the Auditor General in the first in stance refused to receive the information because the statutory deadline had passed  and agreed to receive it and sign for it after a pre-action protocol letter had been sent.

He noted by way of an example the imbroglio concerning the President and the appointment of the Commissioner of Police.

He said that the President came under fire because her job was to receive the report then pass it on, not arrange for a meeting that could influence the report.

He maintained that it’s a similar situation with the Auditor General.

However he also added that the real issue was that verifiability of the information.